SB2001 HFA LANE 7-19 #1
Delegate Lane moves to amend the bill on page 6 on line 24 by
striking out the entire section designated 3-10-4a and inserting
in lieu thereof the following:

§3-10-4a. Special Senate vacancy election.
(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of section three of this
article establishing processes for the appointment and election
to fill a vacancy in office of United States Senator, for
purposes of filling the vacant seat in the office of United
States Senator existing on July 1, 2010, a special election shall
be held to fill the unexpired term concurrently with the general
election of November 2, 2010. A special primary election shall
be held to nominate party candidates for the November election.
In any other vacancy in office of United States Senator occurring
during the period of time this section is effective pursuant to
subsection (d) of this section, the Governor shall make an
appointment who will serve until a successor is elected and
qualified during the 2012 general election.
(b) For the special primary election required to be held
prior to the November 2, 2010 election by operation of this
section upon its enactment during the second extraordinary
session of the Legislature, 2010, the Governor shall immediately issue a proclamation calling for a special primary election and
special general election. The special general election shall be
held on November 2, 2010. The following provisions apply to
these special elections:
(1) The proclamation for the special election shall be
published prior to the election as a Class II-0 legal
advertisement in accordance with article three, chapter fifty-
nine of this code and the publication area for the publication is
each county of the state. The notice shall be filed with the
Secretary of State who shall immediately transmit the document to
the clerk of the county commission of each county. The clerk of
the county commission of each county shall cause the document to
be published within the county in accordance with this section.(2) The provisions of this chapter shall apply to this
special primary election to the extent that those provisions are
consistent with the provisions of this section. Statutory time
deadlines relating to availability of absentee ballots,
certification, canvassing and related election procedures that
cannot be met in a timely fashion, for the purpose of this
election, are modified as follows:
(A) The special primary election is to be held August 28,
2010;
(B) A notarized declaration of candidacy and filing fee
shall be filed and received in hand by the Secretary of State by 5:00 p.m. on the fourth business day following the proclamation
of the special primary election. The declaration of candidacy
may be filed in person, by United States mail, electronic means
or any other means authorized by the Secretary of State. The
Secretary of State shall allow 24 hours following the deadline to
receive original signed and notarized declarations that were
filed electronically or by facsimile;
(C) The early voting period shall begin eight calender days
prior to the special primary election;
(D) The Secretary of State may issue emergency
administrative orders to undertake other ministerial actions that
are otherwise authorized pursuant to this code when necessary to
assure the preservation of the voting rights of the citizens of
this state and avoid fraudulent voting and election activities
and otherwise assure the orderly and efficient conduct of the
election: Provided, that such emergency administrative orders may
not contravene the provisions of this section;E) The compensation of election officers, cost of printing
ballots and all other reasonable and necessary expenses in
holding and making the return of the special election to fill a
vacancy in the office of United States Senator are obligations of
the state incurred by the ballot commissioners, clerks of the
circuit courts, clerks of the county commissions and county
commissions of the various counties as agents of the state. All expenses of the special election are to be audited by the
Secretary of State. The Secretary of State shall prepare and
transmit to the county commissions forms on which the county
commissions shall certify all expenses of these special elections
to the Secretary of State. If satisfied that the expenses as
certified by the county commissions are reasonable and were
necessarily incurred, the Secretary of State shall requisition
the necessary warrants from the Auditor of the state to be drawn
on the State Treasurer and shall mail the warrants directly to
the vendors of the special election services, supplies and
facilities;
(F) For petition in lieu of payment of filing fees, a
candidate seeking nomination for the vacant seat in the U.S.
Senate may utilize the process set forth in section eight-a,
article five of this chapter: Provided, That the minimum number
of signatures required is one thousand seven hundred and forty;
(G) Drawing for ballot position will take place at the
Secretary of State's office 24 hours after the end of the filing
period. For each major political party on the ballot, a single
drawing by lot shall determine the candidate ballot position for
ballots statewide. This drawing shall be witnessed by four clerks
of the county commission chosen by the West Virginia Association
of County Clerks, with no more than two clerks representing a
single political party;
(H) The clerks of the county commission shall submit the
list of persons nominated to be election officials by the county
executive committees from the May 11, 2010 primary election to
the county commission for appointment as election officials;
(I) Election officials shall be appointed by Tuesday, August
3, 2010;
(J) The clerks of the county commission shall provide notice
to all election officials of the fact of their appointment by
Wednesday, August 4, 2010. Included with the notice shall be a
response notice form for the appointed person to return
indicating if he or she agrees to serve in the specified capacity
in the August 28, 2010 special primary election;
(K) The position of any election official notified of
appointment who fails to return the response notice or otherwise
confirm to the clerk of the county commission his or her
agreement to serve by Tuesday, August 10, 2010 is considered
vacant and the clerk of the county commission shall proceed to
fill the vacancies;
(L) Election officials shall be trained by Thursday, August
19, 2010. Provided, that election officials who attended training
for the May 11, 2010 primary election are exempt from additional
training for the August 28, 2010 special primary election;
(M) A registered voter who has not reached eighteen years of
age may vote in the August 28, 2010 special primary election: Provided, That the voter will attain eighteen years of age at the
time of the special general election;
(N) When paper or optical scan ballots are the primary
voting method used at any county, the total number of regular
official ballots printed shall equal at a minimum fifty percent
of the number of registered voters eligible to vote that ballot;
(O) When paper ballots are used in conjunction with a direct
recording electronic voting system, the total number of regular
official ballots printed shall equal at a minimum thirty percent
of the registered voters eligible to vote that ballot;
(P) For counties in which two or more qualified newspapers
publish a daily newspaper, the clerk of the county commission
shall publish at least once each sample official August 28, 2010
primary ballot, on the last day on which a newspaper is published
immediately preceding the August 28, 2010 special primary
election, as a Class I-0 legal advertisement in the two qualified
daily newspapers of different political parties within the county
having the largest circulation in compliance with the provisions
of article three, chapter fifty-nine of West Virginia Code;
(Q) For counties having no more than one daily newspaper or
having one or more qualified newspapers which publish weekly, the
clerk of the county commission shall publish each sample official
August 28, 2010 primary ballot, on the last day in which a
newspaper is published immediately preceding the August 28, 2010 special primary election, as a Class I-0 legal advertisement in
the qualified daily newspaper within the county having the
largest circulation in compliance with the provisions of article
three, chapter fifty-nine of West Virginia Code;
(R) Counties shall not be required to separately publish a
certified list of candidates;
(S) If only one notice of a sample ballot is published, it
shall include a statement notifying voters that this is the sole
publication of the sample ballot;
(T) Before voting machines are used, the clerks of the
county commission shall have the ballots, vote recording devices,
and electronic poll books inspected, and automatic tabulating
equipment tested to ascertain that it will accurately count the
votes cast. A single notice of the place and times of the
inspection and testing shall be published, no less than three
days in advance, as a class I-0 legal advertisement in compliance
with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of West
Virginia Code. The publication area is the county involved;
(U) Applications for absentee ballots shall be accepted from
the date of proclamation, other than from voters eligible to vote
under the provisions of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens
Absentee Voting Act who may apply for an absentee ballot for all
elections within a calendar year as early as the first day of
January of an election year;
(V) Early-in-person voting shall be conducted during regular
business hours beginning on Friday, August 20, 2010 and
continuing through close of business Wednesday, August 25, 2010.
In addition, early-in-person voting shall be conducted from 9:00
a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 21, 2010. No satellite
polling locations will be utilized for the August 28, 2010
special primary election;
(W) Regularly scheduled locations of polling places shall
not be changed, except for emergency situations as provided for
in §3-1-7(e) and (f). Provided that if multiple precincts voted
in one polling location for the May 11, 2010 regularly scheduled
primary election, such precincts may be consolidated into a
single precinct. Locations for consolidated precincts shall
provide internet access, insofar as possible, for the sole
purpose of utilizing the Statewide Voter Registration System
(SVRS) as an electronic poll book; and
(X) Persons having no party affiliation may nominate
candidates for the U.S. Senate vacancy under the procedures set
forth in sections twenty-three and twenty-four, article five of
this chapter: Provided, That the number of signatures required to
be submitted shall be equal to not less than one-quarter of one
percent of the entire vote cast at the last proceeding general
election for any statewide congressional or presidential
candidate. Notwithstanding the provisions of sections twenty three and twenty four of article three of this section, the
signatures, notarized declaration of candidacy, and filing fee
must be submitted no later than August 23, 2010.
(c) The Secretary of State, shall by January 10, 2011,
report to the Joint Committee of Government and Finance findings
regarding of the operation of the special elections undertaken
pursuant to subsection (b) of this section. This report shall
provide analysis of: direct and indirect costs to the state
associated with the conduct of the election; benefits and
disadvantages of conducting an election on a Saturday; the impact
of compressed time periods on efficient election administration;
and whether this election process impacted early voting and
participation by military and overseas voters.(d) The provisions of this section expire on July 1, 2011.
(e) Any special election, which is held under the provisions
of this section and occurs concurrently with a general election,
shall be a separate election from the general election.